Couples to Admire

In honor of Valentine's Day, we rounded up 12 famous same-sex couples that seem to have the whole love thing down. From Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner's nearly 40 year union to newlyweds Jane Lynch and Lara Embry, read about the happy couples here. Then let us know in your comments below which couples you think we overlooked.

Click through to the following pages to find out which couples made The Advocate's "Couples to Admire" list.

Ellen De Generes and Portia de Rossi -- All one had to do was study the look on Ellen DeGeneres's face as she described how she felt reading Portia de Rossi's memoir Unbearable Lightness for the first time, and you knew it was true love. In the book, de Rossi describes her descent into anorexia, bulimia and depression while working on the hit series Ally McBeal, and she credits her relationship with De Generes for helping her out of one of the darkest moments in her life. The couple was married in 2008 at their California home.

Cheyenne Jackson and Monte Lapka -- Sorry guys, film and stage actor Cheyenne Jackson is taken. He and medical physicist Monte Lapka have been together since 1999 when the 30 Rock star moved to Seattle just after coming out of the closet. They moved in together a mere three weeks after meeting. "It was very lesbian," Jackson jokes, "but we just knew." Lapka encouraged Jackson to move to New York to pursue his stage career, and the New York Times reports that Jackson keeps a childhood photo of Lapka in his theater dressing room.

Meredith Baxter and Nancy Locke -- We first knew her as beloved TV mom Elyse Keaton on Family Ties, but now Meredith Baxter (she dropped the Birney) is an out lesbian, paired up with her partner Nancy Locke, a 54-year-old contractor. She told The Advocatewhen she came out in December 2009, that she and her partner go out on double dates with her old cast mate Michael Gross and his wife.

Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge -- Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge (pictured from right) are both brilliant and talented in their own right, but together they're a force to be reckoned with. Hughes, the founder of Jumo.com and a co-founder of Facebook, and Freedom to Marry's Eldridge got engaged on New Year's Eve when Hughes got down on one knee to pop the big question. "It was very traditional and very sweet," Eldridge told The New York Post. "We've been together for five years now."

Elton John and David Furnish -- Music superstar Elton John met his Canadian-born partner David Furnish in 1993 at a mutual friend's invitation to a dinner party. They clicked and had a private dinner the next night. Furnish and John were wed in 2005 in a civil partnership ceremony that reportedly cost a cool PS1 million ($1.6 million). The couple are now parents to a new baby, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, who was born to a surrogate on Christmas Day 2010. They are persisting in their attempts to adopt two Ukranian children, a 14-month-old named Lev and his 3-year-old brother, Artyom, who is HIV positive.

Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner -- Lily Tomlin never did the cover of People magazine to declare she's gay. In fact, she says, in the '70s, Time magazine offered her and partner Jane Wagner the cover if Tomlin agreed to come out. She didn't, not because she was scared -- because she was offended. Tomlin never hi her relationship with Wagner. In numerous articles throughout the years, journalists have referred to them "living together." But in the mid 90's, she and Wagner began stepping out more publicly, and now, after nearly 40 years together as writing and life partners, they're among the most recognizable gay couples in Hollywood.

George Takei and Brad Altman -- Star Trek's Sulu boldy went where few people have gone before when he and husband Brad Altman tied the knot in West Hollywood in 2008 -- one of the first couples in the state of California to do so after the Supreme Court ruled to legalize same-sex marriage. The two have been at the forefront of the fight for marriage equality ever since as Takei has made his way back into the spotlight with the help of Comedy Central roasts, guest stints on Heroes and Howard Stern.

Wanda and Alex Sykes -- When Wanda Sykes came out at a Prop. 8 rally in Las Vegas in 2008, she really made two announcements. The comedian told the crowd she's a lesbian and that she's married. Wanda and Alex Sykes tied the knot in California before Prop. 8 was passed and, in 2009, became parents to twins, a boy and a girl. Sykes has also stepped to the forefront of the fight for equal rights, working with GLSEN, The Trevor Project and Equality California.

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka -- If ever gay men had a poster couple, it's Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka. Consistently arm in arm on red carpets from the Tonys to the Emmys to the Golden Globes, the two are a front and center, positive image of two men in love. They extended their family in October when they became fathers to twins, a boy and a girl, born with the help of a surrogate.

Cynthia Nixon and Christine Marinoni -- Education activist Christine Marinoni was already a friend of Kristin Davis when she met and fell in love with her Sex & the City costar, Cynthia Nixon. The two met in 2004, announced their engagement while fighting for marriage equality in New York in 2009, and just last week, Christine gave birth two the couple's first son.

Jane Lynch and Lara Embry -- Jane Lynch and clinical psychologist Lara Embry had barely been dating for one year when they walked down the aisle in June. The couple met at in May, 2009 at a gay rights fundraiser in San Francisco. Less than six month later, Lynch had become a household name for her work as Sue Sylvester on Glee. Embry has been on Lynch's arm every step of the way for her meteoric rise -- Lynch kissed her and then gushed about her when she won the 2010 Best Supporting Actress Emmy. Lynch is the stepmother of Embry's daughter, Haden.

Rachel Maddow and Susan Mikula-- Rachel Maddow first met artist Susan Mikula in 1999 when she was hired to do some yard work at Mikula's home. Maddow was working on her doctoral dissertation at the time and had yet to become the television and radio presence she is today. The two live together in Massachusetts and, though the state has legal same-sex marriage, say they have no plans to tie the knot. Still, they are hugely supportive of each other's work, with Maddow accompanying Mikula to her gallery openings across the country.